Aus vs NZ: New Zealand bowlers shine in gloomy Dharamsala

New Zealand come up with another inspiring performance to defend 142 and beat Australia by 8 runs.

Published: March 18, 2016 9:00:08 pm

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New Zealand and Australia clashed in the World T20 match in Dharamsala on Friday. Batting first, New Zealand posted 142/8 and then Mitchell McClenaghan and Mitchell Santner shared crucial strikes and five wickets as their team defeated Australia by eight runs for a second consecutive win. This was New Zealand's second win in as many games in the World T20 and they now top the Group 2 table with four points. Earlier on Tuesday, they had defeated India by 47 runs in Nagpur. Mitchell McCleaghan was named the man-of-the-match. (Source: Reuters)

New Zealand captain Kane Willaimson won the toss and decided to bat first on a dry but soft Dharamsala pitch. Williamson and Martin Guptill gave New Zealand a brisk start. Guptill was brutal in particular as he struck 39 off 27 balls with two fours and four sixes. Williamson meanwhile played a second fiddle to him. (Source: AP)

Martin Guptill departed in the eighth over with New Zealand on 61/0 and Kane Williamson followed him in the ninth after he had scored 24 runs off 20 balls. This triggered a New Zealand collapse and Australia bowlers dominated the proceedings there after. (Source: Reuters)

Corey Anderson was off colour on Friday. He began slowly and when tried playing his first attacking off Glenn Maxwell in the 11th over, he holed out a catch to Ashton Agar. He was out after scoring two runs and New Zealand were in deep trouble by now. (Source: AP)

Colin Munro was slow to begin with. But he still played his shots. A reverse dab and then a leg-side four. All looked good for him until he tried a big shot against Mitchell Marsh. That was caught by James Faulkner and Munro was out after scoring 23 runs. (Source: AP)

None of the New Zealand batsmen then clicked. Ross Taylor fell for an 11-ball 11. (Source: Reuters)

Grant Elliott tried some shots and even scored a 20 ball 27 but was run-out. Luke Ronchi and Michael Santner were the two more wickets to fall and New Zealand slumped to 142/8 in their 20 overs. (Source: PTI)

Australia chase could have got a better start with Usman Khawaja and Shane Watson. Khawaja in particular was destructive. He took Australia to 42/0 after five overs. (Source: Reuters)

Shane Watson also scored at brisk pace but not as quick at Usman Khawaja. In the last over of the power play, Watson tried to go big but failed and was caught by Kane Williamson at mid-off. Australia 44/1. (Source: PTI)

Steve Smith was the next man in and after getting off the mark with a four, he was stumped off a beauty from Micahel Santner. Off a flighted delivery, Smith tried to play across the line on the leg-side. Drawn forward, Smith closed the face of the bat but was beaten by the turn and was unbalanced and was way out of his crease. Luke Ronchi took no time to remove the bails. Australia 51/2 (Source: PTI)

Usman Khawaja was still at the crease and with David Warner, who was demoted in the batting order, was steering the innings. A Warner shot flew past the bowler and Khawaja called for two with himself running towards the danger end. Adam Milne from long-off sent down a perfect throw to Grant Elliott and Khawaja was struggling. Australia had lost their set batsmen with the scoreboard reading 62/3. (Source: AP)

David Warner was slowly building the innings and didn't play any attacking shot. But when he faced the left-arm spin of Michael Santner, he tried to take on. Warner played one straight to square-leg and was caught. Australia 66/4 (Source: AP)

Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh struck a partnership and Australia still had hope. But after a 34-run stand, Maxwell tried hitting Ish Sodhi but only managed to sky it. He was caught. Australia 100/5. (Source: AP)

Mitchell Marsh scored a 23-ball 24 and was at the crease when Australia needed 22 runs off 2 overs. But on the first ball off the 19th over, he was dismissed off Mitchell McCleaghan's bowling. James Faulkner tried but failed and in the end, New Zealand managed to defend their score and win by 8 runs. (Source: PTI)